Tools

Print this story

digg

del.icio.us

Email a friend

Your name

Your email address

Recipients’ email addresses (Up to ten, separated by commas.)

Thanks to Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the 2008 term limits amendment, eight City Council incumbents from the Bronx are up for re-election. Four are opposed by at least one legitimate primary candidate.

Predictably, insurgent candidates have blasted 11th Council District incumbent Oliver Koppell, 12th Council District incumbent Larry Seabrook, 14th Council District incumbent Maria Baez and 16th Council District incumbent Helen Diane Foster on the basis of poor leadership, dishonesty, nepotism and neglect.

Predictably, Koppell, Seabrook, Baez and Foster have pointed to extraordinary battles and super sums waged on behalf of and distributed to Bronx constituents.

Who are the incumbents, really? Let’s check the City Hall legislation rolls.

Koppell is listed as the first primary sponsor of 19 local laws introduced between 2006 and the present; three were enacted.

In 2006, Koppell and 28 others sponsored a local law requiring the Taxi Commission to promote and identify wheelchair-accessible taxis. In 2008, he and seven others sponsored a local law to extend Hunts Point Empire Zone benefits to a firm in the 11th Council District. Also in 2008, Koppell and nine others sponsored a local law requiring parking garages to offer bicycle spaces.

Seabrook is listed as the first primary sponsor of three local laws introduced between 2006 and the present; one was enacted.

In 2009, Seabrook and 12 others sponsored a local law authorizing the continuation of healthcare coverage to the family of Gennaro Montello, a Department of Environmental Protection employee killed in the line of duty.

Baez is listed as the first primary sponsor of 14 local laws introduced between 2006 and the present; two were enacted.

In 2007, Baez and 21 others sponsored a local law ensuring that any spousal benefits provided by the city also be available to domestic partners. In 2008, she and 22 others sponsored a local law requiring the Department of Transportation to suspend alternate-side parking for at least 24 hours after a snowfall.

Foster is listed as the first primary sponsor of 13 local laws introduced between 2006 and the present; one was enacted.

In 2008, Foster and 15 others sponsored a local law requiring the Parks Department to submit an annual report of funding provided by non-governmental sources.

For comparison’s sake, Councilman Bill de Blasio of Brooklyn is listed as the primary sponsor of 22 local laws; six were enacted.

©2009 Community Newspaper Group